So, What Have You Done Today?

[TurnipJF 9192]

Today I polished a TB-01 chassis tub. It hasn't been run, but it was showing some marks from storage. There are still one or two on the bottom, but nothing visible from the sides. More than good enough to form the basis of my upcoming TB-01 restomod project.

 

I also fitted a nice shiny heatsink to my Blitzer Blackfoot, mostly for looks because it runs cool enough without one,  but I haven't tested it in summer yet so it might be useful on hot days.

 

 

[Superluminal 3750]

13 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Today I polished a TB-01 chassis tub.

That looks proper shiny!!!! What did you use to polish it with?

[Willy iine 18806]

@TurnipJF  that is a nice deep urushi-like black!  Nicely done.

[TurnipJF 9192]

1 minute ago, Superluminal said:

That looks proper shiny!!!! What did you use to polish it with?

Thanks! I used Holts car polish and a cotton cloth. And a fair bit of elbow grease.

 

[Willy iine 18806]

3 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Thanks! I used Holts car polish and a cotton cloth. And a fair bit of elbow grease.

 

Yeah, I am sure that took quite a bit of effort!    I would've cheated and pulled out my 3" random orbital from my detailing gear in my garage.   

Nice work.

[Frankster 2033]

4 hours ago, Kol__ said:

Firstly, love the technique for testing out the sticker layout, I'm going to use that! I like the stickers, the colours and the idea, but for me as the layouts you've shared for options 1&2 don't seem to be led by the lines of the body. Something just doesn't look quite right yet, like it doesn't flow with the shape of the car. Is there an option 4 I wonder?...

@Kol__ you are right the stock decals do not curve over the rear wide arch very well. Does anyone know if I can use a hairdryer to stretch  and curve the decals?

overall trying to achieve something like this

[Kol__ 3377]

5 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

Nice to see you posting @mr crispy and yes please, let's see a build thread!

Agreed, @mr crispy now you've said that you HAVE to do a build thread!

[Kol__ 3377]

3 hours ago, Willy iine said:

I will start making the drawers tomorrow.. 

 

Awesome, so awesome... also, if that beast ever falls on him... he and his willy are totally f**ked!

[Kol__ 3377]

I finished the sticker job on my Blitzer Beetle shell, minus the front nose cone, as I'm still undecided about whether to paint it. I've bought some TS-96 Fluorescent Orange and plan to do some test strips with both grey and white primer to see how the colour match is to the stickers. Here she is on my MB...

Maybe I should actually build the parts in a box Blitzer Beetle now!

@Frankster I used a hairdryer for the first time on some of the stickers on this shell as they were a total ball ache in certain areas. I found the hairdryer allowed for easier moulding of the stickers around curves of the body and did allow for some stretch, but not much. Also when I got a kink, in a stretched curve for example, the heat did allow for the kink to be squashed flat much easier and then disappear. So, in my limited experience I would say it does help, but it has it's limits. Can you do some testing first perhaps? The things we do for this hobby eh!?

[Frankster 2033]

5 hours ago, Kol__ said:

Still trying to assess all potential options. I'm going for a buggy look, so the HB and SR hard bodies are not in the running. From what I can tell so far, my options are the Sand Viper, Desert Gator or TRF-201 bodies. None of which seem to be available anywhere at the moment. If I can I reckon I'll go for the TRF-201 as it's different from the stock kit options. Anyone know of any others for the DT-02?

 

Stadium truck like Nissan Titan.  I have this body.  Great thing is when it roll, 70% of the time the tall body allows it to land back onto it’s wheels 😁

[Frankster 2033]

8 minutes ago, Kol__ said:

I finished the sticker job on my Blitzer Beetle shell, minus the front nose cone, as I'm still undecided about whether to paint it. I've bought some TS-96 Fluorescent Orange and plan to do some test strips with both grey and white primer to see how the colour match is to the stickers. Here she is on my MB...

Maybe I should actually build the parts in a box Blitzer Beetle now!

@Frankster I used a hairdryer for the first time on some of the stickers on this shell as they were a total ball ache in certain areas. I found the hairdryer allowed for easier moulding of the stickers around curves of the body and did allow for some stretch, but not much. Also when I got a kink, in a stretched curve for example, the heat did allow for the kink to be squashed flat much easier and then disappear. So, in my limited experience I would say it does help, but it has it's limits. Can you do some testing first perhaps? The things we do for this hobby eh!?

Nose cone color match looks good in the photos.  Leave it as is?

 

will try some tests with hair dryer.  Also not sure now polycarbonate body and paint below can handle the heat.  Will need to test test test 😅

[Willy iine 18806]

@Kol__ your Beetle's color scheme is excellent!  

[Willy iine 18806]

@Frankster I always use an emboss heat gun on all decals regardless of curved or flat.

But yes, you will want to heat it first when wrapping over curved surfaces allowing the decal to soften and to slightly stretch while it follows the contour.  

Hair dryer blows too much air for me so I use a heat gun.  GL with your install! 

[Willy iine 18806]

Worked on the HotShot this evening.  

Going to work on it some more tomorrow.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:53 AM, Kol__ said:

I finished the sticker job on my Blitzer Beetle shell, minus the front nose cone, as I'm still undecided about whether to paint it. I've bought some TS-96 Fluorescent Orange and plan to do some test strips with both grey and white primer to see how the colour match is to the stickers. Here she is on my MB...

Excellent timing as I am in the process of building a TT02 Blitzer.

Some years ago I built a Blitzer Beetle, which regrettably I sold! The nose cone was primed white, then painted TS-36 Fluorescent Red. It matched almost perfectly, perhaps barely a tiny bit darker than the stickers. I then made the mistake of painting the inside of the cone black, which resulted in a general slight darkening of the outside color, further exacerbating the earlier slight mismatch  Below is the only picture I was able to find (not the best shot unfortunately):

Fast-forward to my current build, I am starting off with a Sand Scorcher body, which has a white plastic nose cone. I plan to prime white, then paint TS-36 and I anticipate this should very closely match the sticker color. If you prime white your red nose cone, it should be roughly the same.

Luckily I have a 1/24 Shelby Cobra painted in TS-36 Fluorescent Red to provide comparison. The interior of its body is painted black, but I anticipate that if it is left unpainted, it should again greatly match the sticker color (considering the stickers will also darken a bit when placed on the black Blitzer body):

I suspect TS-96 Fluorescent Orange will be too orange. It would be great to see your findings after testing

[Frankster 2033]

@OoALEJOoO nice.  I am looking at a TT-02B Blitzer Beatle as well.   I was originally looking for a proper Blitzer Beatle but none were in stock.  I placed a Monster Beetle body on my sons Plasma Edge and it works!  Found a new Sand Scorcher body and now slowly gathering hop up parts before I start 🤞.  4wd and brushless!

[Frankster 2033]

Part 2. This is driving me mental. 
 

Curving the Martini stripes over the 911 rear arch is not going to work.  Lots of curves on these lovely hips and straight stripes will not work.  Overall I will keep the side profile stripe simple and straight.  
 

New problem is how to install the remaining decals… 🤦‍♂️

Option A1: simple racing number only

Option A2: simple racing number close to front of door

 

Option B1: box art location without sponsorship decals

 

B2: swapped racing number and Martini logo.  No sponsorship decals

Option C: racing number and sponsorship decals

 

Option D: box art location of decals except for Martini stripe  

on chassis with roof rack

 

Option E: with sponsorship decals consolidated on rear arch

 

Overall leaning towards Option B2 as it has a cleaner look. 

Constructive feedback welcome

[Aerobert 2149]

9 minutes ago, Frankster said:

Curving the Martini stripes over the 911 rear arch is not going to work.  Lots of curves on these lovely hips and straight stripes will not work.  Overall I will keep the side profile stripe simple and straight.  

Maybe it is an option to divide the decals into narrower stripes? I think it's easier to bend it over the curves when it's not so wide.

 

If you go with one of the new options I would choose B2.

[Frankster 2033]

5 minutes ago, Aerobert said:

Maybe it is an option to divide the decals into narrower stripes? I think it's easier to bend it over the curves when it's not so wide.

 

If you go with one of the new options I would choose B2.

Thanks @Aerobert  unfortunately there is a pattern to the stripes and I cannot divide without messing this part up.
 

B2 is growing on me and I can alway add the sponsorships afterwards if it looks too bland. 
An important part will be the door panel lines which will make this white car body pop. 

[Kol__ 3377]

6 hours ago, OoALEJOoO said:

I suspect TS-96 Fluorescent Orange will be too orange. It would be great to see your findings after testing

Thanks @OoALEJOoO, I'll let you know how I get on, I might pick up some fluro red for the testing too. Won't be for a week or so as we all have Covid atm

[Kol__ 3377]

1 hour ago, Frankster said:

Overall leaning towards Option B2 as it has a cleaner look. 

Constructive feedback welcome

Oh man this is hard isn't it. The strip along the bottom really works. I think you're right bud, B2 looks the best

[GeeWings 2830]

@Frankster yes, B2 looks great. But at the other end of the spectrum I like option E a lot, it’s got a great scale look with the extra detail of sponsor logos and roof rack.

For me today there wasn’t much RC time but I continued cleaning up the HiLux shell. Got all the stickers off finally and have fixed the crack and prepped the body for painting.

 

[topforcein 1764]

apply'd the lunchbox carbon wrap that came this week i have apply'd more around the rear shell mounts/clips as i managed to get the seller to make me some for them

[Willy iine 18806]

Not sure whether this servo saver is going to fit, but will give it a shot.   I had to grind the chassis a little for clearance.  

This is supposed to be their high speed servo.. 

Also just brush painted the driver.  I did not feel like spraying the helmet as one can’t really see him anyway. 

Maybe I should not watch movies before painting figures because now he looks like Joaquim de Almeida.. 

[Busdriver 6209]

9 hours ago, Frankster said:

Part 2. This is driving me mental. 
 

Curving the Martini stripes over the 911 rear arch is not going to work.  Lots of curves on these lovely hips and straight stripes will not work.  Overall I will keep the side profile stripe simple and straight.  
 

New problem is how to install the remaining decals… 🤦‍♂️

Option A1: simple racing number only

Option A2: simple racing number close to front of door

 

Option B1: box art location without sponsorship decals

 

B2: swapped racing number and Martini logo.  No sponsorship decals

Option C: racing number and sponsorship decals

 

Option D: box art location of decals except for Martini stripe  

on chassis with roof rack

 

Option E: with sponsorship decals consolidated on rear arch

 

Overall leaning towards Option B2 as it has a cleaner look. 

Constructive feedback welcome

Bit confused, my little brain isn’t up to fully constructive feed back but the number must be in the middle of the door. My favourite is probably E